The Note
by insidejokes
Summary: "When we were on our quest- Hazel, Frank, and I -I had barely any memory. Then some things were coming back, and I thought I was starting to remember. But then... the further north we travelled, the blurrier things became. Everything was slipping away, even you." He met her eyes for the first time. "I couldn't lose you."


_Yay for happy fluffy Percabeth oneshots! Hope you like it! _

Camp Half Blood was, and would always be Annabeth's home.

That said, Camp Jupiter did have a pretty sick armoury.

Percy had been giving her a tour of the Roman Camp. She'd seen roman baths, temples, and an elephant sized bullet-proof vest. Nothing, however, had compared to the room they were in now.

Though fairly unimpressive from the outside, the armoury was crammed full of history. Walls were lined with armour and weapons, all shined to perfection. Every other square inch of the room was completely full of spoils of war, trophies. Annabeth was pretty sure she saw a few minotaur horns, and a set of familiar bronze wings.

"Tada," said Percy from behind Annabeth. "Impressed yet?" Annabeth nodded, stunned.

"It's like the attic, at camp." she said, craning her neck to look around.

Percy laughed. "Yeah, kinda. Only nicer, and with less scary zombie ladies." As if as an afterthought, he winced. "Don't tell Rachel I said that."

Annabeth punched him in the arm halfheartedly, and he groaned in mock agony. "I was going to ask if you wanted to look around, but if you're going to be so violent..."

Annabeth was already gone. Looking through the nearest box, Annabeth ran her fingers over the neatly organized stacks of paper. She pulled one out at random.

"Look!" she called, eyes scanning the paper. "It's a ticket to the orginal colosseum!" She turned to glance at Percy, who was trying on a ridiculously feathered helmet.

"I feel like yankee doodle."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, already moving on to another box as Percy hummed the song. This crate was filled with different bags. Immediately, her eyes landed on an especially hideous, tie-dyed satchel. Pulling it out of the box, Annabeth stifled a laugh at how simply ridiculous it was. The front was patterned with beadwork reading 'Hug The World!'.

"Percy," Annabeth called to him. "Look at this." Percy pulled the helmet off his head, and moved in her direction.

"What is it?"

Annabeth held up the bag in explanation. Percy's expression shifted imperceptibly, but Annabeth attributed that to the horror of the bag.

"What self respecting woman would wear a purse like this?" At her question, Percy looked a little pale.

"It's uh... it's not a purse." he mumbled, looking at his shoes. Annabeth raised her eyebrows, and he mumbled even lower than before. "It's a masculine accessory bag."

Slowly, she put the pieces together. "Oh gods, you _didn't_."

"Hey," Percy protested over Annabeth's peals of laughter. "It was from a goddess. What was I supposed to do?"

After a few moments, Annabeth hiccoughed her way through the fit of laughter, and flipped open the bag. She pulled out a few ding dongs, and some tea bags that smelled more like sewage than tea. Then, her fingers brushed against something at the bottom of the bag. Percy looking curiously over her shoulder, she pulled out a crumpled, rectangular piece of paper. Holding it up, she squinted at the letters. Eventually, she realized that it was a reciept for Bargain Mart.

"So, my boyfriend is wearing rainbow purses and buying pillow pets. Should I be worried?" she quipped, but then she looked up at Percy. He didn't laugh- on the contrary, his face had taken on a worried look. The everpresent sadness, which had temporarily disappeared, was back.

Annabeth had stared at him, concerned. He looked at her, and shook his head, almost to himself.

Now she was worried. "What is it, Percy?"

At her words, Percy seemed to snap back to reality. "It's nothing." He shook his head again. "Really. I just... didn't think I'd see that again." Annabeth looked at him questioningly, and he obliged, sounding slightly embarassed. "When we were on our quest- Hazel, Frank, and I -I had barely any memory. Then some things were coming back, and I thought I was starting to remember. But then... the further north we travelled, the blurrier things became. Everything was slipping away, even you." He met her eyes for the first time. "I couldn't lose you."

His eyes seemed to have darkened a shade, reminding Annabeth of a storm tossed ocean. She knew he didn't like to talk about any of the time they'd been apart, and she could see his discomfort in his eyes, searching her own for something she didn't know.

Slowly, with careful fingers, Annabeth turned over the reciept. She instantly recognized Percy's handwriting, and looked towards him asking a silent question. Percy looked wary, but nodded. He leant over her shoulder so that he too could see the paper, see the cramped and rushed handwriting.

Then Annabeth began to read.

_Annabeth_

_My best friend. She laughs at me. A lot. Makes me feel stupid and amazing at the same time. She kisses me when I do something stupid, and sometimes I do it on purpose because it's the best feeling in the world._

_She's looking for me._

_I love her._

And then, written in block letters at the bottom of the page,

_PRINCESS CURLS_

Percy wound a strand of her hair around his finger, playing with it absently. Annabeth didn't look up from the letter, and she felt him looking at her with some trepidation, awaiting her response.

"I, uh..." He glanced down at the reciept and laughed in a slightly out of breath kind of way. "I guess I got kind of mushy-" Then he was cut off because she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.

Percy responded, holding her close to him and kissing back vigorously. He felt her lips smile under his, and he pulled away, grin appearing on his face. Annabeth laughed, cheeks flushed.

"Princess curls?"

Percy blushed at her teasing tone, unable to wipe the smile off his face. "They were the first thing I ever noticed about you, did you know that?" Annabeth shook her head, staring up into his eyes. Percy continued, in a slightly softer voice, "They were the first thing I saw, first thing I remembered. I guess I was worried they'd be the first thing I forgot."

His tone was still light, but Annabeth could sense that something had changed. With a small sigh, she took both his hands in hers, gripping them tightly. "What did you write, here on the note?" She pointed at a sentence, and watched as his eyes formed the words.

"She's looking for me?"

"And?"

His voice was low and soft. "I love her."

Annabeth smiled, and shrugged simply. "She loves you too. And you never have to worry about forgetting that."

Percy grinned impishly, squeezing her hands in his. "I sure hope she loves me. Otherwise that note would have been _pretty _damn embarassing."

They just looked at each other, for a long moment, then he kissed her again. He dropped one of her hands, keeping a hold on the other.

"Come." He said, breaking the kiss. "I want to show you the city." His happiness was contagious, and as they made their way to the door, Annabeth felt a bubble of excitement swelling in her chest. This was a place where you could live your whole life. Now was a time to think about the future, and more importantly, the _now._ She could finally start to put the past behind her, because she had Percy with her again- and really, that was all she needed.

"Oh, and uh, Percy?"

Percy pushed open the door, and looked at her questioningly. She grinned, a teasing note slipping into her tone. "I think you've been spending too long with the Aphrodite cabin. 'Princess Curls'? Really?" Laughing, she flung the door open wide, darting past him and towards the bright city. Percy took her hand in his, and then they were both running like little kids through the camp.

Somewhere along the way, Annabeth let the crumpled paper slip through her fingers. They wouldn't need it.

Neither of them would ever forget this.


End file.
